CULLMAN, Ala. – After a month and a half of business limited to a drive-through window, and thinking of fellow restaurateurs who do not even have that, Annette Harris opened the dining room at Rumors Deli Wednesday, knowing that doing so would put her at odds with Gov. Kay Ivey’s “Safer at Home” and earlier orders, and prepared to accept the consequences.
Harris told The Tribune, “Whatever the order is, whatever, I’ve got to get my business open.”
Governor’s Safer at Home Order
Section 13 of Governor Kay Ivey’s Safer at Home Order carries over information from earlier orders and covers “Restaurants and similar establishments,” reading:
Effective March 19, 2020, at 5:00 P.M., all restaurants, bars, breweries, or similar establishments shall not permit on-premises consumption of food or drink.
a. Such establishments may continue to offer food for take-out or delivery provided the social distancing protocols, including maintaining a consistent six-foot distance between persons, are followed.
b. Such establishments are strongly encouraged to offer online ordering and curbside pickup of food.
c. Hospital food service areas are excluded from this order provided they have their own social distancing plan.
Not waiting any longer
Harris said, “I guess I’ve just thought about it and thought about it, and it’s like, you know, OK, I guess if we had opened this last time (when the Safer at Home Order was issued), I probably wouldn’t be feeling this way. But there’s no guarantee that it’ll happen the 15th- and it’s a pretty good chance it would- but I don’t know what Gov. Ivey’s reason is for holding back.”
Harris reported that Rumors’ drive-through window has seen plenty of use, but her catering business and typical upsurge around spring break vanished this year, due to the pandemic.
Said Harris, “When I first heard we’re closed and not going to open back up, I thought, ‘Well, dang it, you know, well, we’re doing alright. We’re alright; at least I’ve got a drive-through.’ I felt like- it had been in my mind to do it anyway, and I thought, ‘Well, no, I’m being greedy, because I’ve got friends that have restaurants that don’t have a drive-through, and I’m just being greedy if I do it.’ And then I thought, ‘You know what, it takes more than my drive-through; I need more to operate my business right. I need all of it open.’
“And more than just that, I ought to be able to have the right to have it open. I shouldn’t have to ask permission from somebody to open my business. And then the more I thought about it, I kind of got mad, because I thought, ‘I have to go to Wal-Mart to buy supplies for my business, and I’m in there with all these people and how they can allow places that are not as safe as my small business.’ I know how it hurts my friends’ businesses, whether it’s a restaurant or some other place that’s not allowed to be open, that sells some of the same things as these big places. That just got under my skin more and more and more. I just couldn’t stand here: it’s one of these things of either do something or quit griping about it. I decided I’m just going to step out and do it, and stand up for myself, and for my employees and for my business, because the thing of it is, if I don’t take a stand for something, I’m not really doing anything but griping like everybody else.
“You know, it also means that I’m just sitting back and letting somebody tell me how to run my business, and I don’t think that’s right. It’s just almost like ‘Who’s got control of it?’
“There are a lot of good reasons why people should not be out in it. If they have health problems, that they should not be out in anything that’s going to do something to make them sicker. But for me, we are inspected every three months by the health department; I have never in 20 years had below a 91 on a health score. We also have to- every restaurant has to have that ServSafe certification, which is another step they have that you have to do. We know what we’re supposed to do to keep safe and keep clean and all, and I just don’t understand. There’s no reasoning behind it. I just wonder: who was that person that made that decision?”
Harris added later, “You know, I just feel like my rights are violated by not allowing me to run my business. I don’t want to feel controlled. Gosh, we pay enough taxes as it is. It’s not against the law, what we’re doing, because it’s not a law they’ve made about it.”
Not for everyone
Harris continued, “I’ve done a lot, a lot of thinking on this. It wasn’t just a fly by the seat of my pants decision. I’ve been thinking on it awhile. You know, I just thought, ‘Well, I don’t want anybody- I don’t want to guilt anybody- and of my friends- into making this decision with me. It’s my decision, and I don’t want them to feel like they should, or do it because of me; I want them to do it if they want to.
“So I feel like this is something I want to do and I believe in. I don’t know what’s going to happen, even when all this is over. I don’t know if this is going to do me in or if I’m going to come out on top; I don’t know. But all I can do is give it all I’ve got, and this is my last shot. And so, whether it’s ten days from now or nine days from now, or whatever we’ve got left here, or now, I’m going to do it. I’ve waited long enough.”
Rumors employees have already been placing their outside dining tables in front of the restaurant for about a week, and have seen customers with to-go orders stop to eat there.
Said Harris, “We haven’t had one single person say any negative anything about that, or even question it. So, I thought, OK, and I haven’t boasted about it or anything; I’ve just opened it up and had that sitting out there. We haven’t had anybody say anything, and I don’t think it’s a problem.”
Are you prepared for the police to respond?
In a conversation before the reopening, Harris said, “Yeah. I’ve thought about that, too. I feel like, probably, I will be warned to close. I feel like I will be fined, but I don’t know that I’ll have to close.
“You hear of all these sheriffs’ departments all around us saying they’re not going to enforce these things. I don’t know what our sheriff’s department would do, our police department would do, our health department; I don’t know.
“I think it’s just going to be one of those things; I’m not going to get in a shouting match with anybody whatsoever. I’m not going to get in a fight with anybody, I’m not going to get ugly with anybody.”
Harris said that she did not know what the consequences would be, but she was prepared to pay a fine, if necessary.
Open for business, carefully
Harris, well-known for her boisterous personality and very active social media presence, took an uncharacteristically low-key approach to reopening her dining area. She stayed offline with her plan and sent word out to a few friends and relatives by word of mouth, telling The Tribune that she did not want the reopening of the dining room to be a spectacle.
The restaurant owner also said that she did not order any of her employees to work, explaining, “I had a meeting with my employees, and I said, ‘If any one of y’all do not feel comfortable doing this, if you don’t feel comfortable being part of this, I’m not going to be mad at you. You don’t have to be part of it.’ And not one of them flinched; they’re all in, they’re all for it, because they’ve been with me through this, and they’ve- it’s almost like we’ve protected each other. We’ve been a unit and we’ve worked hard through it, and we’ve all kind of grown together through it. They’ve been part of it the whole time and been active in it.”
Harris said that she would abide by social distancing rules laid out for other businesses, including:
- 50% customer capacity with some dining tables removed
- 6-foot spacing
- closing the self-serve drink machine and serving drinks from the kitchen
- removing self-serve condiment dispensers from tables and supplying individual condiments with orders
- removing laminated menus that pass from customer to customer
- signage warning customers with virus symptoms to stay out
“We’re not being careless; we’re being careful,” said Harris. “We are trying to take every precaution. We just want to have the right to run my business, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
Harris concluded, “I don’t know; I don’t think I’d be happy with myself, I don’t think I’d be satisfied with myself if I didn’t do this, so I’m just going to do it. And it’s not one of those ‘I’m going to fight the system; I’m going to do whatever.’ I just feel like this isn’t right this time.
“I don’t know; she (Gov. Ivey) might open it all up (on May 15), but you know, gosh, there’s a time in your life you’ve got to take a stand for something, and this is the time, I think, for me.”
Police Chief Culpepper on City response
Harris told The Tribune Wednesday afternoon that the Cullman Police Department (CPD) had warned her that morning not to open the dining room.
The Tribune reached out Wednesday afternoon to CPD Chief Kenny Culpepper, who said that the department had not received any complaints about Rumors during the day Wednesday, but that his officers will investigate any complaint received. According to Culpepper, the police department will issue a citation to any business that violates the state order, and that restaurants could additionally face the revocation of permits by the Cullman County Health Department.
Culpepper noted that violations of the order increase the liability of the restaurant in the event that a patron becomes ill, and that lack of enforcement could extend liability to the City. Despite claims by a few law enforcement officials around the state that they will not enforce Safer at Home requirements, Culpepper said that the CPD will enforce the order.
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